The cloud storage provider - a low-cost reseller of another larger one - disappeared overnight and cut off service without notice or time to download a backup.

"According to The Denver Post reported in July, the data in question includes the broadcaster's coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the history of East St. Louis, the Great Flood of 1993, and more than 11,000 files. The lawsuit alleges that most of the data is unique and irreplaceable."

Lesson: sovereignty lies in the physical ownership and management of hardware.